I'm only level 2! I don't know any better!
Garuneh reasoned that the shadow would be killed by something on the way, maybe by daylight. If we tried to healkill it, it would have drained us. I couldn't think of a way to make it commit suicide, personally. :( (show it pictures of lolcats?)
Out of town til Monday, internet is spotty up here in the boonies.
Will try to post but probably will not be able.
Sorry, feel free to bot me if needed.
Uh-oh...
3/15 hp = sad wizard...
This thing has endless ammo, doesn't it? We have nothing to disable it and two people are down. Is the pillar wooden? Bria, do you have a shield?
Yes. I have a shield. Do you want to hide behind me? That might work.
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It appears that for some time there has been a lack of interest and disenchantment with the game. Posting has slowed and lacks any substance or direction. I do not want to run a game that continues with such poor pace or content.
Next week, I'm going on a road trip. I'll be away from any keyboards for nearly 2 weeks. Since we are at a stopping point, I'm going to pause the game here. Feel free to continue any IC discussions you wish to have to entertain yourselves. If we want to continue the game afterwards, we may do so.
Until then, a few questions to discuss. Do you even want to continue? If you do, thoughts or suggestions on improving the game? Are there any issues you would like to bring up at this time?
Let's get it out.
I do wish to continue, I just wanted to hear from everyone about what they wanted to do. We should get some healing from our oracle and push south.
I'm game if everyone else is. I was slammed at work and so slowed down posting to earn money. Income is good.
I'm here. My work has sucked as I have been down an assistant.
Just so y'all know, I'll be going on paternity leave in April, so there may be a few weeks of botting. I'll see about bringing an iPad to the hospital. ;)
Yeah sorry about that. My shift got changed around and there were some issues I had to work through.
I am definitely interested in continuing, though.
Yes, I noticed the slowdown as well.
As for myself, I am kind of tired of my character. When I made Gunder I thought it would be fun to make a character that can do only healing and buffing and a little bit of mind affecting spells. But it gets repetitive. Especially when fighting against undead all the time.
In fact, I was considering asking about having Gunder disappear somehow and be replaced by another character...
Also we left the town of Kassen without buying enough rations and that was kind of stupid. In a way it adds to the suspense - but in another way it is also frustrating - especially when you play a gluttonous halfling.
But aside from these issues, I do enjoy this adventure and I do want to continue playing with this group.
Oracles start to get better at mid-levels, much like other characters. You will be able to get spells like Spear of Purity/Searing Light that do great damage against outsiders/undead.
if you really want to change, we could always eat Gunder. How many days would we get out of him?
I was a little tired of Garuneh, but Nebten convinced me to stick with him. I actually like the fact that our characters (whether well optimized or not) sure don't seem well optimized, are kind of unprepared, and crack wry jokes about the ill maintenance of the local donjon.
I agree that we were kind of dumb to not have bought more rations. I swore we did that or at least were going to; sometimes PbP seems like a conga line in the dark and everyone's kinda bumping into each other, and then you're off to the next scene. However, since we are low on food and HP, I totally don't mind taking a day to affix a rope up that darn slope, and go foraging around. Unless Neb has a clock ticking on how long it takes for those townsfolk to live, we can swing it.
Liz could even scout around, but risks getting injured.
Thems be my thoughts. NAMASTE
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Everybody here is in multiple PbP games. Everybody's involvement in those games are greater then this one. So while the perfect storm of work issues may have overcame this group, that doesn't seem to slow down on everybody's current involvement in other PbP campaigns. Also, people can't be that busy if they are joining up new PbP campaigns either. This is why I mentioned if there are any thoughts or ideas for how the game is unfolding.
I view PbP as an excellent format to push role-playing and tactical strategy. You have time think about what you are going to say, do and act with in a given encounter. Rash and hasty actions have a greater chance of poor outcomes. PbP shouldn't be a conga line in the dark. This group seems to be speaking over one another but at times nobody is listening. Gunder asks if anybody needs healing, nobody responds. Bria declares what she sees in a pool of water, but nobody is interested. I would like to think I don't pull everybody by the nose in one direction or the other. I would like players to push the story, but if the players are not responding, then I need to make sure things move along. I shouldn't need a voice from the heavens tell you if a clock is ticking on the missing townspeople when a survivor relayed what occurred. In addition said survivor was found dehydrated and driven mad, those that were taken are probably in a worse situation then him. Stagnation kills PbPs.
I will admit that I might not have placed a stronger hook or sense of urgency in the beginning to catch the group's attention. Maybe I shouldn't have suggested this module since it is a crypt crawl like Godsmouth. Any other recommendations are welcomed.
To answer Gunder's questions: Yes I did stop firing at KO'ed PCs because if that actually killed somebody, that would suck. Not a very heroic way to die. And, I will say after this module there will be a great reduction in undead.
I don't really mind crypt crawls, so going through here isn't an issue. I didn't get involved with the pool room since I have an allergy to 'guide dang it' puzzles like the ones Sierra online made so long ago. I was imagining us doing a 'does this key work? how about this one?' situation. The answer to the puzzle would be obvious to the GM since they have the module in front of them, but having us trying to solve it can lead to things grinding to a halt after a number of us go 'I don't know how to figure it out.'
Okay. I made up my mind - and I am going to stick with Gunder. Liz, thanks for reminding me that good spells come in higher levels. Garuneh, thanks for reminding me that our characters being un-optimized is part of the fun. And lastly Nebten, thanks for pointing out that the undead-density will decrease once we are out of the dungeon.
Nebten, I see your point.
Concerning tactical strategy: I think part of the problem is that consensus decisions are hard in an asynchronous medium like PBP:
Resting (for regenerating HP and spells) vs. moving on (preserves rations and increases our chance to find survivors). Nobody seems to want to make these decisions without getting everybody's agreement first. So everybody states their opinion in character and then ... nobody makes the decision.
Who gets healing when healing spells are limited and everyone is down on hit points? Nobody wants to be greedy, so nobody screams "here". I don't know everybody's hit points so I don't know who needs it the most.
One thing that might help is better tracking for resources.
Maybe we could add everybody's remaining spells / hit points / rations to the map?
Another thing that could help is discuss our strategy out of character.
Or maybe we appoint a group leader that makes these decisions for all of us.
I keep my HP on the status bar. When editing your character sheet, you can cut and paste things like current/max HP, perception, saving throws, and AC in the 'class/levels' section.
I have come to realization that I am not so good at crypt crawls! In APs there's usually some sort of "time passes and you have a nice time in the inn. Various NPCs chat with you. You gather info. All your hit points are restored, you went out and got some gold via Perform and life is hunky dory." There is a certain lean economy to the crawl that I'm unpracticed at. There are more group decisions to be made "go this way, open this door, etc" too.
I'm not saying ditch the module; let's press onward! If anything, this is opening my eyes to the fact that APs are a bit railroadish--kind of a conveyor belt of fluff from fight to fight.
I really don't know what happened with those damn arrows. I admit I got confused and thought that Liz would be attempting to disarm it before we all went into the room.
AFAIK, Liz entered first to check the area out but we all ended up inside and got pummeled.
Might be time to go old-school. Don't touch anything, don't trust anyone not in the party, and be prepared to eat any and every living thing you come across.
Now where'd I put my 10' pole?
sleep time
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Garuneh, I see what you want to do. The problem is your location. Currently, if you Push the skeleton, it will just back into the wall. If you move north first, then you have an angle to push it away from you in a southern direction.
So you can move as far as the entrance and still see the skeleton if that is what you want to do. You can keep the roll too. Otherwise, you can change your action.
Hey Neb, there is no RAW ruling on it, but Surge appears to be a move-the-target-anywhere-you-want-from-a-distance kinda power. There isn't even a range limit listed!
Note that James Jacobs 'thinks' it should be ranged. There isn't an official PFS answer. :(
I take it to be like Hydraulic Push, which is ranged and can strike from any angle. As a matter of fact, Surge should be more versatile than H. Push, as it can drag as well as bull rush.
Of course, you're the GM. How would you rule in this game?
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I am not seeing Hydraulic Push originating anywhere else then from the caster in its description.
Surge acts as if using the Bull Rush or Drag Combat Maneuver.
In a Bull Rush, "A bull rush attempts to push an opponent straight back without doing any harm."
With Drag, "The aim of this maneuver is to drag a foe in a straight line behind you without doing any harm. If you do not have the Improved Drag feat or a similar ability, initiating a drag provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver. If your attack is successful, both you and your target are moved 5 feet back, with your opponent occupying your original space and you in the space behind that in a straight line."
But I would like Surge to be a little bit more useful then just straight lines from the caster though.
Since we are at grey area, I propose this:
Surge originates from the caster.
The range of Surge is 30'. We discussed this before in Godsmouth. 30' range was chosen since this Supernatural ability is replacing Water's Domain's Icicles which is also 30'.
When you use the Bull Rush aspect of Surge, each square you move a creature must place it farther away from you.
When using the Drag aspect of Surge, each square you move the creature must bring it nearer to you.
So in this this situation, the skeleton wouldn't move. I'm giving you a chance to reconsider your action.
Perhaps ready to surge it when they mmove?
Keeps one at bay and still allows you to stay mobile.
Collect those arrows and mend them later, Aldous!
Good idea
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Aldous, the reason I had you shoot your bow instead of cast PoE on Bria is that Bria was 10' away from you and PoE is a touch spell. So you would have had to move into position, then cast the spell. If you did that, then you would have been stuck in the middle of the room. I figured you didn't want that to happen. Hence, fire the bow and fall back.
Yeah sounds good to me.
Going to work, will respond when I can.
Bria would very much like to move back five feet. Unfortunately:
I'm standing alone with my feet on the stone
Thinking of you till it hurts
I know you hurt too but what else can we do
Tormented and torn apart
I wish I could carry your smile and my heart
For times when my life feels so low
It would make me believe what tomorrow could bring
When today doesn't really know, doesn't really know
[Chorus:]
I'm all out of move, I'm so lost without you
I know you were right retreating for so long
I'm all out of move, what am I without you
I can't be too late to say that I was so wrong
Yes, I went there.
Ah, the great dwarven band, Hair Supply.
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I hope people don't mind if I moved the game along to a good stopping point. You guys had the skeletons in hand. I only had a 15% chance to hit Bria and she can one shot them.
Being moved to the Chamber of Rest allows the party to be healed up completely, ability scores & HPs. This will make it a clean slate for everybody when I return and we get moving again. I plan on returning the 18th but it may take me a day or 2 to get back into the swing of things and get the board up and running again.
Sounds good to me.
Just a fair warning...each trap/hazard/monster we encounter in this "Crypt of the Everflame" cements Aldous' impression of the villagers' stupidity and general evil-ness a little more.
That's not to say he won't complete the task, but it will be more and more difficult for him to relate to human non-party-members in a courteous and non-haughty manner as time progresses.
SOunds good to me
Ok, I can't do it now, but I'm putting it in my Astrid to comb through the dang gameplay thread and look at all of the clues and things and compose a document. We have a gate, a wheel, a shield, magic is the key, and I don't remember where everything is, and I think we need to get all ZORK on this thing.
Before we get eaten by grues.
IC, does anyone have pen and paper?
Liz does.
Spellbook and pen/ink, yes
FYI: I am out of town til tomorrow. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!
Dmpc as needed please.
Ok, I've annotated the map, listed loot by room, and made some notes.
Take a look. I haven't summed up rations, so there's that. We didn't examine the brooms (?!) in the maze, and we should really Aid Another to assess that stag's head necklace. Aldous Detected Magic, but I don't see a reply as to whether it was magical. (I guess not).
Awesome!
Treasure: Necklace 160 gp
Line of effect ignores soft cover like people...or are the stairs that steep? Also, I was picturing we would retreat down the stairs to the fountain room, then hit them while they are on the stairs. Anyhow. Fall back!
Okay, they don't seem to be attacking though